Monday, September 10, 2007

Criteria by which comics are Junk, Glorious Junk

Here are the lists from the three seminars (well, two so far ....) of your suggested criteria by which comics can fairly be classified as junk. (Cf. Neil Postman: "the best things on television are its junk."Tuesday morning:- Comic books are comfort food.- Comic books natively are not been -- have resisted being -- didactic.- Comic books first just are junky.- Published to a childish level of engagement.- Socially recognizable as mass produced.- Absence of artistic unity-closure, framing: non-monumental.- Repetition of simplistic major and minor themes.- Socially stratified as junk (ie: similar to Star Trek). Conventionsand collections.Thursday afternoon:--entertainment, solely --pleasure, pure and simple--instant gratification --minimal reading requirements --small amounts of time and capital are invested (doesn’t time = capital?) --they are shallow, through and through—one reading, you got it all--read primarily for escapism--sensationalism (superheroes), repetitiveness (easy to define the good from the bad)--marketed as junk --found on 7-11 shelves --disposable--static and mono-dimensional

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"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." Sherlock Holmes."....This is all a way of saying that Ogden is going to twist my theories to fit his facts."Clint Burnham.